Acceptance of the terms of an offer is what brings a contract into existence. Generally speaking, the acceptance of an offer must be ‘unconditional’ (that is, on the same terms as the original offer) and communicated to the offeror. An offer may normally be revoked at any time up to the point of acceptance, therefore the timing of acceptance and the answer to the question ‘when is the contract formed?’ are critical.
Traditionally, there have been two rules used to determine when acceptance has occurred and it is not yet clear which rule, if either, will apply to Internet transactions.
Where acceptance is given by instantaneous communication (such as face-to-face or by telephone) acceptance is deemed to have been communicated to the offeror when it is received by the offeror. For example, if two parties are
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